Unit 4 Questions

Question 1

A man owned two acres of land. He sold one acre to a woman and reserved an easement appurtenant for entrance and exit over her acre to reach the public road. The woman’s land is

Answer 1

the servient tenement

Question 2

A man files a notice in the public record of pending litigation affecting the title to a property. This notice reflects which of these?

Answer 2

A lis pendens

Question 3

Covenants, conditions, and restrictions (CC&Rs) are used by a subdivision developer to maintain specific standards in a subdivision

Answer 3

True. CC&Rs might apply to certain architectural or design specifications. CC&Rs are detailed in the original development plans and referenced in the deeds to individual properties in the subdivision.

Question 4

If the government acquires privately owned real estate through a condemnation suit, it is exercising its power of

Answer 4

eminent domain.

Question 5

The homestead exemption in a town is $15,000. Four years ago, a man purchased a home for $58,000 and then experienced hard times. At a court-ordered sale, the man’s property is purchased for $60,000. If the man has an outstanding mortgage balance of $35,000 and credit card debts amounting to $24,360, how much is protected by the homestead exemption?

Answer 5

15,000

So, when the property is sold for $60,000, the mortgage of $35,000 is paid and $15,000 is reserved, leaving $10,000 for the credit card debt.

Question 6

In some states, a husband cannot sell his property unless his wife also signs the deed. The wife’s interest is called

Answer 6

dower rights.

Question 7

The purpose of escheat is to expand governmental property holdings.

Answer 7

False. Escheat is a process by which the state acquires privately owned property when it has become ownerless. For example, when an owner dies and leaves no heirs and there is no will.

Question 8

If the dominant estate merges with the servient estate, which of these is TRUE?

Answer 8

The easement is terminated.

Question 9

An easement appurtenant is attached to the ownership of real estate and allows the owner of that property the use of a neighbor’s land.

Answer 9

True. An appurtenant easement is said to run with the land and transfers with the deed of the dominant tenement.

Question 10

A man owns a large undeveloped parcel of land on the side of a hill. The property borders a road on the lower edge. The owner sells the lower portion of the property to a woman, and she builds a home on it. Several years later, the owner sells the upper-portion of the property to another man. This man’s property does not border any road. For this man to gain access to the road, he must claim by implication of law an easement

Answer 10

by necessity

Question 11

The electric company has the right to extend its wires over 50 parcels of land. What right does the electric company have?

Answer 11

Easement in gross

Question 12

Dower and curtesy are types of legal life estates.

Answer 12

True. A legal life estate is a form of life estate established by state law and becomes effective automatically when certain events occur. Dower and curtesy provide that the nonowning spouse has a lifetime right to an interest in the real estate, even if the owning spouse wills the estate to others.

Question 13

Every workday for the past 20 years, a woman has parked her car in a specific place in the nearby parking garage. Today, she receives a notice that the garage will be replaced by an office building. Can they do this to her after all the years she parked there?

Answer 13

Yes, because she only had a license.

Question 14

While it does not have a physical effect on property, a lis pendens creates a “cloud on the title” to the property.

Answer 14

True. A lis pendens is a notice filed in the public record of pending litigation affecting title to the property. This “cloud on the title” may prevent the property from being sold or further encumbered.

Question 15

While it does not have a physical effect on property, a lis pendens creates a “cloud on the title” to the property.

Answer 15

True. A lis pendens is a notice filed in the public record of pending litigation affecting title to the property. This “cloud on the title” may prevent the property from being sold or further encumbered.

Question 16

A man conveyed a one-acre parcel of land to a preschool. In the deed, the man stated that the property was to be used only as a playground; the man reserved a right of reentry. What kind of estate has the man granted?

Answer 16

Fee simple subject to a condition subsequent

Question 17

A homestead is a legal life estate in real estate occupied as a family home.

Answer 17

True. A legal life estate is a form of life estate established by state law and becomes effective automatically when certain events occur. Homestead is a legal life estate in real estate occupied as the family home.

Question 18

The process by which the government exercises its right to acquire privately owned real estate for public use through either judicial or administrative proceedings is called condemnation.

Answer 18

True. Eminent domain is the right of the government to acquire privately owned real estate for public use; condemnation is the process by which the government exercises this right.

Question 19

An elderly man left the family home to his second wife with the provision that when she dies, the home goes to a son by his first wife. The second wife owns a bundle of rights but does not own the right to

Answer 19

will the property.

Question 20

If the grantor is silent about what happens to property after a life estate ends, the grantor has a remainder interest in the property.

Answer 20

False. When the creator of a life estate chooses not to name a remainderman, ownership returns to the original owner upon the end of the life estate.

Question 21

An easement that arises when an owner sells property that has no access to a street or public way except across the seller’s remaining land is an easement by prescription.

Answer 21

False. An easement that arises when an owner sells property that has no access to a street or public way except across the seller’s remaining land is an easement by necessity.

Question 22

The concept of tacking provides that successive periods of discontinuous occupation by a different party may be combined to reach the required total number of years necessary to establish a class for an easement in gross.

Answer 22

False. The concept of tacking provides that successive periods of continuous occupation by different parties may be combined to reach the required total number of years necessary to establish a claim for an easement by prescription.

Question 23

The state’s authority to enact legislation to protect the public is passed through to municipalities and counties through

Answer 23

enabling acts.

Question 24

The four governmental powers that affect real estate are taxation, eminent domain, escheat, and police.

Answer 24

True. Government powers include police power (building codes), eminent domain (right to acquire private property for public use), taxation (raise funds to meet public needs), and escheat (acquires private property that has become ownerless).

Question 25

Which of these is defined as a claim, charge, or liability that attaches to real estate?

Answer 25

Encumbrance

Question 26

Which of these must exist for an appurtenant easement to exist?

Answer 26

Two adjacent parcels, different owners

Question 27

A property owner gave land to a school “so long as the land is used for only academic and recreational purposes.” The ownership interest granted here is called

Answer 27

a fee simple determinable.

Question 28

A license may be terminated or canceled by the owner of the property, and a license ends on the death of either party or the sale of the affected property by the licensor.

Answer 28

True. A license is a personal privilege to enter the land of another for a specific purpose; it can be terminated or canceled and ends with the death of either party or with the sale of the land.

Question 29

A state’s power to enact legislation that preserves order, protects the public health and safety, and promotes the general welfare is called its police power.

Answer 29

True. Police power is the state’s right to enact legislation to preserve order, protect the public health, and promote the general welfare of its citizens.

Question 30

Real estate taxes, mortgages, judgments, and mechanics’ liens all represent possible liens against an owner’s real estate.

Answer 30

True. A lien is a charge against property that provides security for a debt or an obligation of the property owner.

Question 31

What are deed restrictions?

Answer 31

Private agreements affecting the use of the land

Question 32

A freehold estate is the highest interest in real estate recognized by law.

Answer 32

False. A freehold estate lasts for an indeterminable length of time; a fee simple absolute estate is the highest interest in real estate recognized by law.

Question 33

The holder of a life estate is called

Answer 33

A life tenant is not a renter like a tenant associated with a lease. A life tenant is entitled to the rights of ownership and can benefit from both possession and ordinary use, just as if the individual were a fee simple owner.

Question 34

A woman died in a nursing home. She had outlived all of her heirs and had not written a will. What happens to her $250,000 estate?

Answer 34

It escheats to the state or county.

Question 35

The state requires enough land to build a four-lane highway. For the state to acquire the needed land, the state must do all of these EXCEPT

Answer 35

reimburse the property owner for the amount that the property owner paid for the land.